MORGANTOWN — Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly came to a definitive conclusion about WVU junior guard Naomi Davenport after his Cyclones’ 57-49 loss Jan. 7, at the WVU Coliseum.
“She’s much better in person than she is on video,” Fennelly said. “This is my first time seeing her live and up close. Without question for them, she was the difference in the game.”
Davenport erupted for a game-high 23 points, sinking four free throws and making a critical steal in the final 50 seconds, as the Mountaineers fended off Iowa State to snap a two-game Big 12 Conference losing streak.
A home crowd of 2,580 watched the 6-footer from Cincinnati — who also snared a game-best 13 rebounds — bounce back from a dismal three-point performance in Wednesday’s 60-52 home loss to Kansas State.
Davenport went 10 for 14 from the foul line Sunday, helping offset an uneven 6-for-15 shooting effort from the field.
In the end, the Mountaineers (14-2, 2-2 Big 12) prevailed, which is all she cared about anyway.
“Just get the ‘dub,’ ” Davenport said when questioned about her mindset in the final minute of a taut contest.
“Do anything we can to get the win. Don’t let them score. Get the ball out of their hands. Lock down and get your hands on the ball. Just get the ‘dub.’ ”
The majority of Davenport’s trips to the line came about as she was fouled on drives to the basket, which was something WVU coach Mike Carey encouraged on a day his team shot 29.3 percent (17 of 58) from the field and 23.5 percent (4 of 17) from beyond the 3-point arc.
“We felt we could drive her,” Carey said. “They just kept fouling. We weren’t hitting outside. We have to get something going to the rim. She was probably doing the better job of getting to the rim. We kept running stuff to her.”
As Davenport scanned the postgame stats sheet, her four missed free throws — which came in the first nine minutes of the final quarter — rankled.
“I missed too many,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t realize I shot that many. At the end, I could have extended the lead more if I had made those four free throws. I have to get back in the gym and concentrate more on my free throws in practice.”
Fennelly hopes his team(7-8, 1-3) will be better prepared to defend Davenport when they meet up again on Jan. 20, in Ames, Iowa.
The Cyclones’ inability to make Davenport’s life miserable on the court Sunday came back to haunt.
“We couldn’t keep her in front of us,” Fennelly said. “Instead of making the kid hit a tough two, we fouled her and bailed her out. Those are pretty impressive numbers for 24 minutes. It was a great performance by her.”
Perhaps Davenport’s most crucial play of the game came on the defensive end in the final 50 seconds.
Trailing 51-48, Iowa State possessed the ball and was looking to tie it up or at least pull within two when Davenport swiped a pass in the lane and took off down court.
The Cyclones fouled her from behind. She drilled two free throws to extend the edge to 53-48, with 33 seconds remaining.
On Iowa State’s trip down the floor, Davenport snagged Madison Wise’s missed jumper and was promptly fouled with 25 seconds left.
Errant shots became the theme of the day for the Cyclones, who shot 16.7 percent (4 of 24) from 3-point range and 25.8 percent (17 of 66) overall.
“It was incredible how we continued to struggle to make shots,” Fennelly said. “Some of that is good defense. Some of it is infecting our whole team.”
After grabbing the rebound from Wise’s miss, Davenport converted two more foul shots to make it 55-48, and the Cyclones were essentially finished.
WVU point guard Chania Ray loves Davenport’s willingness to take the ball with the game in the balance.
“It’s great to know she’ll be aggressive in crunch time,” said Ray, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. “Somebody has to do it. Luckily, it was her today. She’s showed some great heart. That helped us a lot at the end of the game.”
The Mountaineers also received a boost from a gutsy performance from senior forward Kristina King, who returned from a right-foot injury that sidelined her for five games.
King scored only three points but pulled down six rebounds, made two steals and blocked a shot in 32 minutes.
“She did well,” Carey said. “Her timing isn’t there. She hasn’t been doing anything for almost three weeks. Her lift was as good as it normally is. She’s a little tentative on (her foot).”
The Mountaineers are back in action Jan. 10, at Kansas.
